“Deep practice”.  I show students the best practices to master math, grammar, reading and so forth. Simultaneously, I immersed myself in the literature on performance across all disciplines. What I called deep practice was labeled deliberate practice or purposeful practice by others who had the same goal: figuring out how to help students improve. One […]

What madness am I suggesting? Most Connecticut schools are stronger than most schools in most states. Those in the top 10% of schools such a Guilford High School, Daniel Hand High, Lyme-Old Lyme High School, East Lyme High School, Old Saybrook High School, Valley Regional High School (Essex-Deep River) and other public schools in Southeastern, […]

The problem with all online training is the lack of human connection.  I teach online classes and was awarded a best teacher designation at the college where I teach.  I still know that even on my worst days as an in-person teacher I am making more of an impact than when I teach online. The […]

Every year, a new batch of students comes to our offices in Old Saybrook and Madison.  Most are not confident that they will get better.  They are with us because their parents “signed them up for an SAT course”. Few are certain that they will get better.  Every year – or really every season – […]

The SAT as the weapon that will help your child gain admission.  Why?  Because students at our local high schools do wonderfully well on a comparative basis on national standardized tests. Connecticut is a smart state.  It routinely comes in the top 5 for education in national surveys.  But for towns along Shoreline-Southeastern, CT as […]

I have seen enormous merit aid scholarship success for Connecticut students with top SAT and ACT test scores, particularly in the last 5 years.  Colleges – particularly private ones – are desperate to maintain their student populations. They also need to look “not desperate”! To do so, they need to attract a student body that […]

I was in Pasta Vita in Old Saybrook and felt someone tap me on the shoulder.  It was the father of two SAT students from past SAT classes.  “My children still talk about you and the class.”  I knew he was not referring to my teachings of the intricacies of SAT test-taking strategies. “Caitlin was […]

During our SAT-ACT Mastery Seminars held in Madison and Old Saybrook – as well as in school at Old Saybrook High School, Valley Regional High School in Deep River, and Lyme-Old Lyme High School, Southeastern Connecticut Chinese School, and The Williams School in New London, we present a section on the psychology of performance.  We […]

47% of high school seniors graduated with an A average.   That’s worth reading again and maybe a third time. This mind-blowing statistic has numerous implications.  But the most important one is the delusion that many parents have in relation to college admission.  “Tom has a 3.8 GPA…”  “Jessica has a 97 average…” “Lydia has nearly […]

“One of my friends told me…” Much like investment advice from random people makes no sense to follow without due diligence, advice from Connecticut parent circles should follow the same guidelines. Parents dealing with their first child’s experience navigating the high school to college transition often defer to parents who have done so previously. In […]